Matt Breen

Taylor Williams will definitely not be eligible. He's been on the major league roster for several months - and after 45 days (outside the DL and September call up) a guy is no longer considered a rookie. Taylor has been taken off most (if not all) of the major prospect sites. As for Peralta -- I'm guessing he will graduate by then. He only needs 13 innings to hit 50. Two or three starts should get him there. And even if he's only a few innings short, we'll probably just make him ineligible knowing that he'll go over the limit in his next start. We shall see about Phillips. If he is sent down soon, he should still be rookie eligible. But if he gets close and is still on the roster at the deadline, we will likely graduate him knowing - like with Peralta - that he'll be going over the 130 AB mark in short order. But we will see how it goes. In the end, we need to just use common sense. If Peralta and Phillips are just a week or so away from hitting the rookie eligible limits - then we'll just leave them off our lists. It just makes sense. No one else should be in danger of graduating from the prospect. Only other note is that Josh Pennington has retired (he got to #26 in our last poll - tough luck) - so he won't garner any votes. We could potentially lose more guys via trades - but we shall see.

Ramos will definitely require an extended stay on the DL. Won't be off until after the trade deadline. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2018/07/wilson-ramos-disabled-list-trade-deadline-rays.html

To me, age (Syndergaard 26, deGrom 30) is why I target Syndergaard. Injury risk means lower cost for Syndergaard. While I think that cost I posted for Syndergaard is very rich, deGrom should command even more given health. Have you taken into account that Syndergaard has three more years of control vs two more years for deGrom? deGrom might be better, but his extra year brings some additional value.

As a note, we'll do our mid-season prospect poll beginning August 1. That way all the deadline deals will be done, and any additions/subtractions can be accounted for. I'll put the post up a few days before the poll opens for voting - just to give people a heads up. We will do the same format as before.

By the way, if people want a comparison, Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills did this same thing. Wrote similar type stuff on Twitter in high school. As a first round pick in the NFL this past spring, Allen is a higher profile person (and he's a quarterback).

I will start by saying I've read a few of the tweets - but I don't know exactly how many they are and how deeply the tweets cut. But I'll just add the following. People do stupid and wrong things in life. But these kinds of things can be compounded by having an intent of malice, or meant to cause physical and emotional harm. Again, I haven't seen all the tweets, but I don't think Hader's tweets go to that level. His youth does not excuse him of his actions. He's got to walk in and face his teammates and friends and explain the situation. But in the end, I hope people can forgive (or at least be open to forgiving) a young man for his stupid and wrong actions he took as a high schooler. To me, it's what he is now - and where is going forward - what matters. He's done something wrong, and there will be consequences, but what the character of Josh Hader today is what really matters going forward - and I hope he commits himself to proving he is a person of high standards. As for this being a non-story - that's crap. You spew racist or homophobic stuff in a public forum (and Twitter is a public forum) you're making an ugly side of yourself available to the world. Sure you're allowed to have the views - even state them in public. But businesses (and baseball is a business) generally have standards they expect from their employees. To just wash it away as 'free speech' or whatever is wrong. He's a public person in a public position and his contract has language addressing this kind of behavior. That makes it an issue for a lot of people. In the end, I'm not going to defend or attack Hader (or maybe I'm defending and attacking him at the same time). I'll just move on and expect the best from the guy.

Was Bryce Harper's dad pitching at the end of the NL?

How did Mike Zagurski ever get back to the majors? I still can't figure that out. There was no one better than this guy? Weird.

I am going to ask people to stop with the name calling and personal attacks. If you can't help yourself, walk away from the computer. It's that simple. Thank you.

He's #4 in a Dodgers' system similarly ranked to the Brewers. Probably a comparable prospect to Phillips and Ray. Would either of those guys be off limits in a Machado deal? We need to put some of these prospects in perspective. The grass is not always greener in someone else's system. Diaz is not even close to Hiura's value as a prospect in my opinion. Diaz is a currently #84 on the MLB Pipeline. He was pre-season #73 with Baseball Prospectus, #87 Fangraphs. Don't know BA. He's having a good season at AA - hitting .314 with more walks than strikeouts. Phillips and Ray aren't Top 100 guys at this time, so they don't really compare. Now if you combine them -- that's getting interesting. That's why I felt a Ortiz/Phillips package was viable. That the Dodgers are supposedly willing to give more prospect capital to the Orioles in exchange for salary is a factor as well. The Brewers have the ability to take on salary - the Dodgers don't necessarily have that luxury. It hurts us that the O's are willing to take back money for a better package. Oh well, we shall see. Still nothing decided.

How about this: Brett Phillips for Brian Dozier (Twins). .230 BA, 16 HR, .738 OPS. Too much? Too little? We'd be taking on around $3M in salary. Historically a much better hitter - and has been playing well of late. Has potential to do much better. The number of 2B options on the market should keep Dozier's price down, but I think it will take a decent offer to get Dozier. However, Phillips might be too much. Troy Stokes, Jr. and Cody Ponce for Jose Iglesias, Jordan Zimmerman and Cash (Tigers). It shouldn't take a lot to get Iglesias, who is hitting .266 BA, .305 OBP, and is a great fielder. We take on about $2M in salary. Doesn't hit much, but he's consistent and provides great defense. Big risk with Zimmerman. He is having a pretty good year (12 starts, 63 IP, 11BB, 61K, 3.71 ERA, 3.38 FIP, 1.127 WHIP), but has struggled badly the previous couple of seasons. He is under contract through 2020 for $24M, $25M, and $25M. That's a huge amount of dollars. My thought is the Brewers pay 1/3 of the salary - leaving them on the hook for about $3M in 2018, and about $8.3M in 2019 and 2020. Is that realistic? I'm just sort of guessing here. Tigers get a couple of marginal guys that can help them in the near future, plus they save around $22M in salary. Phil Bickford or some other lower lever lottery ticket for AJ Ellis (Padres). .284 BA, .758 OPS, good defender. Padres get a guy who might help them down the road. Macros Diplan for Joakim Soria (White Sox). Soria is one of the better non-closers who could be on the market. 36 IP, 2.75 ERA, 9 walks, 45K, 1.167 ERA. Makes $9M in 2018, plus there's a $10M option for 2019 with a $1M buyout. So we'd be taking on about $4M if we excised the buyout (or we could keep him for 2019 at $10M). White Sox get a promising, but erratic arm. I think it's a lot of give up, but relievers tend to cost more at the deadline, so I'm making the move. Wrap up. - Brewers lose Diplan, Ponce, Stokes Jr., Phillips and Bickford. - Take on about $12M in salary this year. - Add Iglesias to play SS full time, add Dozier to play 2B full time, add Ellis to platoon with Pena, add Soria to the bullpen, and add Zimmerman to the rotation. - Take on Zimmerman for 2019/20 at about $8M per season. Not sure if this is worth it. But it moves some guys off the 40 man roster who are mostly stuck behind other people.

Final: Biloxi 8, Jacksonville 3 Erceg Shines in Biloxi's Series Win over Jacksonville Third Baseman Goes 4-for-4, Homers For The Fourth Time In Six Games By Garrett Greene / Biloxi Shuckers (Michael Krebs) Biloxi Box Score Lucas Erceg is on a tear. The Shucker 3B went 4-4 on Monday night, including an HR, his 11th. It was his 5th HR in nine games. Corey Ray, Luis Aviles, Jr. and Trent Grisham added two hits apiece as part of a 12-hit onslaught. On the mound, the piggyback duo of Trey Supak and Jon Perrin held the Jumbo Shrimp to just five hits and one earned run, while striking out seven and walking only three batters. Batting Corey Ray: 2-5, 2B, SB Keston Hiura: 1-4, 2B, BB Lucas Erceg: 4-4, HR, BB Luis Aviles, Jr.: 2-5, 2B, SB Trent Grisham: 2-5, BB, SB Pitching Trey Supak: 5.0 IP, 4 hits, 0 ER, 2BB, 6K, Win Jon Perrin: 4.0 IP, 1 hit, 1 ER, 1BB, 1K, Save Notes Luis Aviles Jr. has improved his hitting this season. Between Carolina and Biloxi, he has a .268 BA (including a .306 average at Biloxi). Aviles Jr. is a lifetime .240 hitter in the minors. Biloxi Game Log Biloxi took an early lead with Erceg's 2nd inning HR and a steal of home by Luis Aviles Jr. Such fun. Biloxi Top of the 2nd Jake Gatewood strikes out swinging. Lucas Erceg homers (11) on a fly ball to right field. Luis Aviles Jr. singles on a fly ball to center fielder Monte Harrison. Trent Grisham walks. Luis Aviles Jr. to 2nd. Max McDowell flies out to right fielder Braxton Lee. Luis Aviles Jr. to 3rd. With Trey Supak batting, Luis Aviles Jr. steals (5) home. Trent Grisham steals (8) 2nd base. Trey Supak strikes out swinging.

I don't see anything with the Mets being easy, even if it is in their best intrrest. We made the Walker deal last year at the deadline with the Mets. So there's some history there. The Mets probably know our farm system pretty well, which might help expedite any talks.

Nicely said. You're list is spot on. The collapse of Santana is mystifying.

I'll help out. Here you go: - Brewers love Machado and have made a very good offer. The names tossed around include Phillips, Ortiz, Burnes, Lutz, Woodruff, Arcia, Bando, T. Williams, Houser, Peralta, Ray, Erceg, Dubon, Gatewood, Brown, Nottingham, Stokes, Carmona, Medeiros, Ponce and a few others. That's just a preliminary list - I'm guessing some other guys have been talked about. 50% chance we get something done. - Brewers won't include top prospects such as Hiura - but you never know if that will change. - Brewers don't want to increase their offer any more except for if they have to. It's coin flip that we increase the offer. - Phillies have made a good proposal. Brewers might have to increase their offer to beat, but maybe not. It's toss up that we don't have to increase the offer. - Yankees made an offer but not good enough - 50% chance that could change. - Dodgers had a proposal but it was rejected. 50/50 they may come back and try again. - Between 2 and 29 other teams have inquired on Machado. - O's will wait until after the all-star break to announce trade. But that may change if they feel they can get more by waiting. Odds are about even that things get wrapped up this week. - Orioles have been scouting Brewer players. 50% chance the Orioles scout Brewer players and eat peanuts at the same time. - Mark A wants to go 'all in' but Stearns does not. If a deal is done, that means Mark A won the battle. If not, then Stearns did. Even money that Stearns wins this one, but you never know. - Come back later tonight and I will scramble all these things up, re-word slightly, and add some random percentage points. Of course, I'm leaving and never coming back if anyone questions me. Never means about 50%. Reilly...this was awesome. I actually read it and took it literal on first glance. This was done though because I think in the past you mentioned you actually did have a source in the Brewers front office. Is my memory correct on this? Thanks. I'm glad you understood it was a joke. I'm sorry if I led anyone astray into thinking this was real. It was just me having some fun. It's been pretty tense on these boards lately and I thought it was amusing. I probably shouldn't have done it in the HH style. All that is beyond us and I probably didn't need to dredge it up. Even if it was funny. I do have a couple of sources that have dropped me some tidbits here and there over the years. I've had one source that's been hit or miss, and one that's been pretty accurate. But I don't get much. And often when I do, I really can't say anything (which is really hard to do, if I do say so). I've shared a few things on the board, but not much. Alas, nothing regarding the Machado stuff. Would love to know what's up.

I'll help out. Here you go: - Brewers love Machado and have made a very good offer. The names tossed around include Phillips, Ortiz, Burnes, Lutz, Woodruff, Arcia, Bando, T. Williams, Houser, Peralta, Ray, Erceg, Dubon, Gatewood, Brown, Nottingham, Stokes, Carmona, Medeiros, Ponce and a few others. That's just a preliminary list - I'm guessing some other guys have been talked about. 50% chance we get something done. - Brewers won't include top prospects such as Hiura - but you never know if that will change. - Brewers don't want to increase their offer any more except for if they have to. It's coin flip that we increase the offer. - Phillies have made a good proposal. Brewers might have to increase their offer to beat, but maybe not. It's toss up that we don't have to increase the offer. - Yankees made an offer but not good enough - 50% chance that could change. - Dodgers had a proposal but it was rejected. 50/50 they may come back and try again. - Between 2 and 29 other teams have inquired on Machado. - O's will wait until after the all-star break to announce trade. But that may change if they feel they can get more by waiting. Odds are about even that things get wrapped up this week. - Orioles have been scouting Brewer players. 50% chance the Orioles scout Brewer players and eat peanuts at the same time. - Mark A wants to go 'all in' but Stearns does not. If a deal is done, that means Mark A won the battle. If not, then Stearns did. Even money that Stearns wins this one, but you never know. - Come back later tonight and I will scramble all these things up, re-word slightly, and add some random percentage points. Of course, I'm leaving and never coming back if anyone questions me. Never means about 50%.

I thought Medeiros would be in the bullpen by this time - so great for him and the org for getting him to where he is at this time. He's really gotten more consistent with his performances, and improved tremendously this year against right handers. Great to see. Let's just hope he keeps things up.

Lutz has made some nice progress after a bad start. He's now up to .251 BA and an OPS of .761. Considering he was hitting sub-.200 in mid-May, he's slowly and steadily improved. 2nd half of the year he's at a .974 OPS (covering 83 ABs, so not a ton). Encouraging stuff.

Agree. They'll get run over without at least one significant move. I disagree. I think we have deficiencies at several spots that - if addressed as a whole - can have a significant effect on the team. As noted in the Stars and Scrubs post - viewtopic.php?f=63&t=37151 - we have players on the extremes and few in the middle. By addressing the entire package - as opposed to doing one big move - you can - hopefully - get the same effect (a better team). I'm not opposed to a big move - I just don't think it will happen if we have to move significant assets. Machado will cost a lot - but probably not our best prospects. I think JA Happ is in the same boat as he's a free agent after the season. It just limits his value. But he'd be a nice add on - but still not cheap. I think we'll make some moves - but I just don't know if they will be 'big' moves. I'm hoping we can land Machado (and others).

Scoreboard was wonky for me yesterday. Nothing would show up for a while. Erceg is coming around. .639 OPS in the first half of the year, .895 in the second. He did the same thing last year. He struggled early, then got better as the season moved on. Hopefully it's him adjusting to advanced pitching - which would be a good sign.

If the Crew doesn't get Machado, I think you'll see some more minor moves made. I doubt we go nuts. Instead, it'll be small, measured trades to shore up weak areas. As people have noted, we have a number of guys in the minors that could get lost in the off season. Best flip some of those assets now. SS - Jose Iglesias from Detroit would work. .260ish hitter, minimal power, excellent fielder. Free agent at the end of the year. Won't cost much. While he doesn't move the dial as a hitter, he provides exceptional defense and a consistent bat. The team would appreciate the day-to-day professionalism and consistency of the guy. 2B - Asdrubal Cabrera from the Mets would fit nicely here. Good bat, adequate in the field, switch hitter. Hitting .281, 17 HR. Free agent at the end of the year, so won't cost too much. Very consistent player who would really solidify a position that's been a revolving door. Brian Dozier is another guy who has been mentioned - but his 2018 has been a bit of a struggle. The power is still there - 16 HR - but the .230 BA is weak - although his low BAIP is a low .251 - meaning he's probably been suffering from some bad luck. The guy is a solid defender, and even if he comes in and hits .250-.260 with power, it's a big plus. Also a free agent at the end of the season, so he won't cost that much. C - Tough area to upgrade without over paying huge for someone like Realmuto. Look for a smaller upgrade to replace Kratz. Tucker Barnhart from Cincy and AJ Ellis with SD are two guys that come to mind. Veterans who are having solid seasons. Both good defenders. Both free agents at the end of the year (I think). While their bats are middling, they represent an upgrade to Kratz. Starting Pitching - Toughest area as pitching always costs the most. Unless there's a major injury, I'm guessing the team rides out Chacin, Anderson, Peralta, Guerra and Suter/Miley - and hope Davies and perhaps Nelson can provide some help later. Not real sexy. Relief Pitching - Wouldn't be surprised if we added another arm like last year when we got Swarzak. The Crew goes through relievers at a high rate, but a Hader, Knebel, Barnes, Jeffress, T. Williams, Jennings, and Albers isn't a bad core. Corbin Burnes could be a nice addition as well. However, another solid veteran would be welcome for depth. As an example, Joakim Soria is having a good year with the White Sox. Again, target guys that won't cost that much - usually guys who are FAs at the end of the season. In the end, whether we get Machado or not, I wouldn't be surprised if the club makes a bunch of moves. The middle IF has been wildly inconsistent this year, as has catcher. They'll make modest upgrades at each, then catcher, and maybe an arm or two. But I doubt we make any huge splashes (outside of Machado). It will be smaller upgrades that don't tax the farm system - upgrades that will, hopefully, have some positive, rippling effects throughout the club.

Corey is a really talented player - the speed/power combo has emerged - now the hit tool and defense have to follow. I'm more confident of the latter than the former, but the next year or so will be interesting. As trade bait, I wouldn't sell Ray short because if the hit tool can improve - even a little - he could be a really valuable player. Again, doesn't mean he is a sure thing. Still work to be done, but it's great to see him putting together some success. I'd love to see him get more consistent - and avoid those really bad stretches where his strike out rate just soars. When the Brewers drafted Ray, they envisioned a guy who could hit 15-20 HR, steal 30 bases, hit .280 and play a decent CF. As a pro, the power and speed are there. But it may be that he's selling out his batting average for more power. Just a guess. But if he can hit .260 with a .350 OBP, 20-25 HR, and steal a bunch of bases - that's a really good player. Maybe not an all-star, but a really good regular.

Yes, there is pressure to make the playoffs. The team has the second best record in the NL. We'd be foolish not to be trying to make a run. What moves we make is debatable - but without question, we should be keeping our eye on the prize - World Series. But first, we have to get to the post season. It isn't easy, but it can happen. One step at a time.

Donaldson can't play SS so I wouldn't want him. Plus he's still on the DL. Reports are that he's starting baseball activities - but you never really know what that means. And with all his injuries the last two years - I wouldn't trust him to be healthy. Toronto is probably best waiting until August and hope he comes back and looks good before the end of the August. I don't think anyone will claim him on waivers if he's still on the DL in early August.

I say we stay the course. If we were willing to do a Machado trade a week ago we should be ready to do it now. I'll take the risk that we can make up ground on the Cubs. There's a lot of baseball left. I don't want to, however, overpay for Manny. I'd stick to the plan, and turn to alternatives if needed.